The Dow Jones today traded 30 points lower in pre-market trading after the U.S. Labor Department announced 220,000 weekly jobless claims – 7,000 more than what analysts expected. Despite the higher rates of weekly jobless claims, the Labor Department's report was otherwise positive, pushing the 10-year Treasury yield above 3% for the first time since 2011. Weekly jobless claims remain near a 50-year low.

Fast Money: This powerful secret made one man a millionaire. Now he's sharing it live on camera – find out how you could use it to become $2,918 richer in less than minute. Click here…

Money Morning Insight of the Day

Right now, The Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE: DIS) potential $52 billion acquisition of most of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. (Nasdaq: FOX.A) is in doubt. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Money Morning Special Situation Strategist Tim Melvin explains that you can make 10 times on your money when this deal falls apart. He shows you how, right here.

The Top Stock Market Stories for Thursday

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) leads a busy day of earnings reports on Wall Street. Analysts projected the retail giant would report earnings per share of $1.12 on top of $120.1 billion in revenue for the first quarter. The firm beat profit expectations by $0.02 and easily topped revenue expectations thanks to stronger online sales. Wal-Mart stock had declined by roughly 13% heading into the report since Jan. 1.

Crude oil prices continue to remain in focus after Brent crude hit $80.00 per barrel. The benchmark crude touched $80.00, as markets are concerned about the impact renewed Iranian sanctions will have on global supply. French oil giant Total announced Wednesday that it was abandoning a gas project in Iran after failing to obtain a waiver from the Trump administration to do business in Iran. The sanctions are expected to decline global output at a time that OPEC is already working diligently to push oil prices higher by containing excessive global production.

Four Stocks to Watch Today: JCP, BABA, F, KR

Shares of JCPenney (NYSE: JCP) are ticking higher after its earnings report before the bell. Yesterday, retail companies were stunned by the 11% jump for its rival Macy's Inc. (NYSE: M) stock thanks to a strong first-quarter report.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) is generating a lot of buzz as investors monitor trade relations between the United States and China. BABA stock had slumped by 18% thanks to trade restrictions on Chinese companies.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) announced it will restart production of its popular F-150 pickup truck at its Dearborn, Mich., facility. The company recently suspended operations after a fire damaged supplies needed for manufacturing. The F-150 is the most popular consumer vehicle in the United States.

In an effort to beat back the growth of Wal-Mart and Amazon, grocery giant Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) announced a deal to purchase a 5% stake in British online supermarket Ocado. The deal will allow Kroger to utilize the UK firm's warehouse automation technology in the United States and improve its supply chain costs.

Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

By submitting your email address you will receive a free subscription to Money Morning and receive Money Morning Profit Alerts. You will also receive occasional special offers from Money Map Press and our affiliates. You can unsubscribe at anytime and we encourage you to read more about our privacy policy.

You can view our VQScore top-rated stocks now by entering your email below:

By submitting your email address you will receive a free subscription to VQScore and occasional special offers from Money Map Press and our affiliates. You can unsubscribe at anytime and we encourage you to read more about our privacy policy.

Today's Markets

DJIA95.21(0.37%)25,585.69

NASDAQ8.73(0.11%)7,637.01

S&P3.82(0.14%)2,826.06

DIS0.06(0.05%)132.79

WMT0.81(0.80%)102.67

JCP0.02(2.20%)0.93

BABA-1.00(0.64%)155.00

ABOUT MONEY MORNING

Money Morning gives you access to a team of ten market experts with more than 250 years of combined investing experience – for free. Our experts – who have appeared on FOXBusiness, CNBC, NPR, and BloombergTV – deliver daily investing tips and stock picks, provide analysis with actions to take, and answer your biggest market questions. Our goal is to help our millions of e-newsletter subscribers and Moneymorning.com visitors become smarter, more confident investors.

By submitting your email address you will receive a free subscription to Money Morning and receive Money Morning Profit Alerts. You will also receive occasional special offers from Money Map Press and our affiliates. You can unsubscribe at anytime and we encourage you to read more about our privacy policy.